Bible in 90 Days

¹¹ In this way Solomon successfully finished the Eternal’s house and the house of the king so that everything Solomon had in his heart to do for the divine and royal residences he accomplished. ¹² The Eternal appeared to Solomon one night.

8 After 20 years of constructing the Eternal’s house and his own house, ² Solomon built cities in the regions which Huram, king of Tyre, had given to Israel and settled the Israelites in them.

³ Then Solomon conquered Hamath-zobah in Aram. ⁴ He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities in Hamath. ⁵ He also built upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon (fortified cities with walls, gates, and crossbeams in the territory of Ephraim), ⁶ Baalath (in the territory of Dan), all his storage cities, and all the cities for his chariots and his horsemen. Solomon built these in Jerusalem, in the region of Lebanon, and in all the lands he ruled to defend Israel’s territory.

^7-8 All of the non-Israelites who remained in Solomon’s kingdom, including descendants of Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, became conscripted laborers to this day. ⁹ But Solomon did not enslave the Israelites for his building projects. The Israelites were warriors, Solomon’s leaders and commanders of his chariots and horsemen, ¹⁰ and 250 of them were his chief officers who ruled over the people.

¹¹ Then Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the city of David and away from the temple to a separate house which he built for her. Solomon thought, “My foreign wife will not live in the palace of David, king of Israel, because the places are holy where the Eternal’s covenant chest has entered.”

¹² So that it pleased God and followed the provisions of his father, Solomon gave burnt offerings on the Eternal’s altar, which he had built in front of the porch. ¹³ He did this daily (according to the commandment of Moses), weekly (on the Sabbaths), monthly (on the new moons), and at the three annual feasts (the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths). ¹⁴ Following the plans of his father David, Solomon assigned the temple duties to the priests, the Levites’ daily duties of praise and ministering before the priests, and the gatekeepers’ gate divisions. These plans had been laid out by David, a man who followed the True God. ¹⁵ The priests and the Levites followed all the commandments of their king, even those regarding the storehouses. ¹⁶ Solomon finished all this work, beginning with the groundbreaking of the Eternal’s temple and ending with its completion.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the coast in Edom. ¹⁸ Huram sent his seafaring servants in ships to help Solomon’s servants sail to Ophir. There the servants took 450 talents of gold and brought them to King Solomon.

9 The queen of Sheba entered Jerusalem with an impressive entourage and camels carrying spices, a large amount of gold, and gems. She had heard about Solomon’s famous wisdom, so she came to ask him difficult questions that addressed her personal concerns. ² Solomon answered these questions openly and honestly where nothing about the queen was hidden from Solomon’s knowledge. ^3-4 His wisdom and frankness impressed and astonished the queen, as did the palace, the meal, the servants, the guests and their clothing, the cupbearers and their clothing, and the stairway^[a] that led to the Eternal’s temple. After viewing all these things, the queen was mesmerized and breathless.

⁹ The queen of Sheba gave to Solomon in recognition of his prestige 9,000 pounds of gold, vast quantities of gems, and a large amount of spices previously unknown in Israel. ¹⁰ When Solomon’s and Huram’s servants had brought gold from the land of Ophir, they also brought algum wood and costly gems. ¹¹ Solomon had used this non-native algum wood to build the steps to the Eternal’s temple and the king’s palace and to make lyres and harps for the musicians. These were all unmatched by anything that had existed in the land of Judah.

¹² Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all that she had traveled to Israel to receive, in addition to gifts equaling those that she brought to him. Contented with her visit, the queen returned home with her servants.

¹³ Annually Solomon received about 25 tons of gold ¹⁴ in addition to what the traders and merchants brought. The Arabian kings and the local governors also brought gold and silver to him.

¹⁵ Solomon used some of this metal to make weapons: 200 large shields (each weighing 7½ pounds of beaten gold) ¹⁶ and 300 small, rounded shields (each weighing 3¾ pounds of beaten gold). All the shields were stored in the house made of wood imported from Lebanon.

¹⁷ Solomon then constructed a large ivory throne and gilded it. ^18-19 At the base of the throne were 6 steps and a golden footstool, and at the sides were armrests. The throne was guarded by 14 lions: one next to each armrest, and one on either side of each step. This throne was unlike any other monarch’s throne.

²⁰ In King Solomon’s house, made of wood from Lebanon, the drinking cups and dishes were of gold (since silver was not recognized as a precious metal in Solomon’s days).

²¹ Both Solomon and Huram owned ships which traded with the coastal city of Tarshish every three years, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks^[b] into Israel. ²² All this made King Solomon richer than all other monarchs, and his wisdom was equally immeasurable. ²³ All the kings of the earth wanted an audience with King Solomon, to hear the wisdom which God bestowed upon him, as the queen of Sheba had. ²⁴ Each visitor brought gifts to Solomon every year: silver, gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

²⁵ Solomon’s horses and chariots stayed in 4,000 stalls along with the 12,000 horsemen who resided with him in Jerusalem or in Israel’s other fortified cities.

²⁶ During his reign, Solomon ruled the region between the Euphrates River in the east and to the land of the Philistines all the way to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and southward to north of the border of Egypt. ²⁷ He made Jerusalem so wealthy that silver was as common as stones in the rocky regions and cedars were as plentiful as sycamore trees in the lowland. ²⁸ Solomon also imported and was given expensive horses from Egypt and from other countries.

²⁹ The actions of King Solomon, from his birth until his death, are recorded in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecies of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer (specifically those concerning Jeroboam, son of Nebat).

³⁰ Solomon’s rule over all Israel lasted 40 years—during which time he governed from his capital city, Jerusalem. ³¹ And after he joined with his ancestors in death and was laid with his father, our beloved King David, in Jerusalem, Solomon’s son Rehoboam ruled Israel in his place.

10 After his father died, King Rehoboam went to Shechem in Northern Israel to be coronated before all the Israelites. ² The news of the impending coronation reached Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, where he was living as an exile in Egypt, so he hastily returned to Israel.

³ The Israelites requested that Jeroboam meet them in Shechem at the coronation. Together, they made a request of Rehoboam, who would be their new king.

As the Israelites left, ⁶ King Rehoboam asked older men who were his father Solomon’s advisors for advice about the situation.

⁸ But Rehoboam did not listen to the advisors’ recommendation. Instead he asked the opinions of his childhood friends who were more likely to give him the advice that he wanted to hear.

¹² On the third day, Jeroboam and the Israelites returned to Rehoboam as the king had requested. ^13-14 The king followed the advice of his young friends, answering harshly and ignoring the advice of his father’s advisors.

¹⁵ By ignoring the Israelites’ desires, the king fulfilled the Eternal God’s prophecy that was spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam, son of Nebat. ¹⁶ Just as predicted, the Northern tribes formed a nation separate from Judah because the king did not listen to them.

Most of the Israelites left Shechem to form a new Northern Kingdom, ¹⁷ but a few Israelites remained in the cities of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, because they recognized that Rehoboam was their rightful king.

¹⁸ In a final attempt to reunite his father Solomon’s kingdom, King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, the superintendent of Solomon’s forced labor, into Israel to compel the Northern Kingdom to accept Rehoboam as their king. But the Israelites stoned Hadoram to death. Realizing the anger of the Northern Kingdom, King Rehoboam fled in his chariot to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Thus the Northern Kingdom of Israel has rebelled against the Southern Kingdom, the Davidic kings in Judah, until today.

11 Having returned to Jerusalem, King Rehoboam assembled 180,000 warriors from the territories of Judah and Benjamin in the South, and he charged them to fight against Israel and to reunite both kingdoms under one king, Rehoboam. ² But the Eternal spoke to Shemaiah, the True God’s servant and prophet.

The Southerners did as they were told, ⁵ and Rehoboam began to fortify Judah from his capital in Jerusalem. ⁶ He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, all of which are walled cities in the territories of Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹ He reinforced the fortresses, staffed the defenses with leaders, and stocked the storage houses with food, oil, and wine. ¹² In all the cities, he provided shields and spears for the citizens to protect them in case of attack. With these provisions, Rehoboam protected the Southern Kingdom in the territories of Judah and Benjamin.

^13-15 Meanwhile, Jeroboam and the ruling family in the Northern Kingdom prohibited the priests and Levites from performing their duties for the Eternal. Jeroboam appointed his own priests to serve the religious centers of the Northern Kingdom, which honored false gods in the forms of goats and calves. So the priests and Levites left their homes among the Northern tribes, moved to the Southern Kingdom and Jerusalem, and supported Rehoboam as their king. ¹⁶ Likewise, those Israelites living in the Northern Kingdom who were dedicated to the Eternal One, the only True God of Israel, also moved to Jerusalem to make sacrifices to the Eternal One, True God of their fathers. ¹⁷ Those who moved south strengthened the Southern Kingdom with their dedication to the True God and His chosen King Rehoboam (son of Solomon) for three years. These people were faithful to God and followed the example of our beloved kings David and Solomon for three years.

¹⁸ His first wife, Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth (son of David) and Abihail (daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab) ¹⁹ gave birth to three sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ Rehoboam’s second wife, Maacah (granddaughter of Absalom), had four sons: Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved his second wife, Maacah, more than all his other 18 wives and 60 concubines, who gave him a total of 28 sons and 60 daughters. ²² Of those children, Rehoboam appointed Abijah (eldest son of his favorite wife Maacah) as the leader among his brothers and as the crown prince. ²³ Rehoboam then wisely made some of his other sons governors of the territories and fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. He ensured their contentment and loyalty, giving them food and selecting their wives.

12 After three years of prosperity and military strength, Rehoboam and all Israel living in the Southern Kingdom rejected the Eternal’s laws. ² Their unfaithfulness resulted in Shishak, king of Egypt, attacking Jerusalem during King Rehoboam’s fifth year. ³ Shishak’s army included 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and countless mercenaries from Libya, Suk, and Ethiopia.^{[c] 4} He conquered the fortified cities in Judah, and as he approached Jerusalem ⁵ Shemaiah the prophet brought another message from the True God to Rehoboam and Judah’s governors (who had fled to Jerusalem at the threat of Shishak’s army).

⁹ Then Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem and plundered the Eternal’s temple and the palace of the king. He took every treasure, including Solomon’s golden shields.

¹⁰ To replace his father’s golden shields, King Rehoboam cast bronze shields and gave them to the commanders who guarded the palace entrance. ¹¹ The commanders carried those shields whenever they accompanied the king to the Eternal’s temple, then they returned the shields to the guardroom.

¹² Because Rehoboam had humbled himself, the Eternal subdued His anger and did not destroy him. Things were good in the Southern Kingdom ¹³ when 41-year-old King Rehoboam began his strong 17-year reign in Jerusalem (the city the Eternal had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to establish His reputation).

Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah the Ammonitess. ¹⁴ During his reign, he abandoned the ways of the Eternal and did evil. ¹⁵ The actions of King Rehoboam, from his birth to his death, are recorded in the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and in the visions of Iddo the seer (according to the genealogies).

Rehoboam and Jeroboam were constantly fighting one another. ¹⁶ After Rehoboam joined his ancestors in death and was laid with his fathers in the city of David, Jerusalem, his son Abijah ruled Israel in his place.

13 ^1-2 Abijah, the son of Rehoboam and Micaiah^[d] (daughter of Uriel of Gibeah), became king over Judah during Jeroboam’s 18th year as king of the Northern Kingdom. He ruled for 3 years from Jerusalem and battled against Jeroboam. ³ Abijah, who initiated the war, had an army of 400,000 heroic men, but he was drastically outnumbered by Jeroboam’s army of 800,000 heroic men. ⁴ Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and addressed Jeroboam and all of the soldiers from the Northern Kingdom.

⁶ Yet Jeroboam, Nebat’s son and the servant of David’s son Solomon, rebelled against his master.

¹³ During Abijah’s appeal to the Northern Israelites, Jeroboam was not paying attention. Instead, he was dividing his forces into two fronts—one to meet Judah in front of them and one to ambush them from the rear.

^14-16 When Judah realized what the Northern forces had done, the men shouted to the Eternal and the priests blew their signal trumpets just as Abijah promised. God was faithful to His promise; He crushed Jeroboam and his forces. As they fled, the True God gave the victory over Israel to Abijah and Judah. ¹⁷ Abijah and his army slaughtered 500,000 of the Israelite warriors. ¹⁸ The Northern Israelites were defeated because the people of Judah trusted in the Eternal One, the True God of their ancestors. ¹⁹ Abijah pursued the fleeing Jeroboam and captured several Northern cities and their surrounding towns and regions: Bethel (one of the Northern Kingdom’s shrine cities), Jeshanah, and Ephron.

²⁰ Jeroboam was weakened by his battles with Judah, and he never regained his former strength. The Eternal struck him, and Jeroboam died. ²¹ But Abijah’s strength increased, and he married 14 wives and fathered 22 sons and 16 daughters. ²² The actions of Abijah, his works and his words, are recorded in the chronicles of Iddo the prophet.

14 After Abijah joined his ancestors in death and was laid with his fathers in the city of David, Jerusalem, his son Asa ruled the Southern Kingdom in his place. During Asa’s reign, the country was quiet for 10 years as it had been during Solomon’s rule. ² Asa obeyed the Eternal One, his True God, and led the nation in reformation^{[f] 3-5} by removing remnants of idol worship in Judah: foreign altars and high places, incense altars, sacred pillars, and statues of Asherah. Asa commanded Judah to seek the Eternal One, the True God of their ancestors, and to obey His laws and commandments. The kingdom was peaceful during Asa’s reign.

⁶ Asa utilized this peaceful time which the Eternal had given to build fortified cities in Judah since he was not preoccupied with wars.

The Judahites agreed, so they built the cities and prospered. ⁸ Asa built an army of heroic men including 300,000 Judahites, who carried large shields and spears, and 280,000 Benjaminites, who carried shields and bows.

⁹ When Zerah from Cush^[g] came to Mareshah in the Judean highlands to attack Judah with an army of one million men and 300 chariots, ¹⁰ Asa went to meet the challenge. The two armies faced each other in the valley of Zephathah^[h] at Mareshah.

¹² Just as Asa requested, the Eternal defeated the Cushites on behalf of Judah, and the Cushites fled. ^13-14 Asa and his men pursued the Cushites as far as Gerar in southwestern Judah. So many of the Cushite army died that they could not recover; they were decimated by the Eternal and His army. The Judahite army was able to crush all the cities around Gerar because the people of Gerar feared the Eternal, and the army plundered each city they destroyed. ¹⁵ In the villages and pastures, they crushed the herdsmen and seized large numbers of sheep and camels. Then the Judahite army returned to Jerusalem.

15 The Spirit of the True God gave a prophecy to Azariah, the son of Oded, who relayed it to Asa and his people.

⁸ Asa responded to the message of Azariah the son of Oded the prophet with that courage and strength. He removed the abominable idols from the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had conquered from the Northern Kingdom in the hill country of Ephraim. Then he repaired the Eternal’s altar in front of the porch of His temple. ^9-10 During the Festival of Weeks in the 3rd month of the 15th year of his reign, Asa assembled in Jerusalem all of Judah and Benjamin and those from the Northern territories of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had moved to the Southern Kingdom when they realized the Eternal One, his True God, was with Asa. ¹¹ That day, they sacrificed to the Eternal 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the wealth they gained during their war against Cush, ¹² signifying their covenant agreeing to seek the Eternal One, True God of their ancestors, in everything they did. ¹³ They decided that anyone (man or woman, young or old, important or insignificant) who would not seek the Eternal One, the True God of Israel, should be executed in accordance with His command,^{[i] 14} and they promised this to the Eternal with loud voices, shouting, trumpets, and horns. ¹⁵ All of the Southern Kingdom rejoiced at their decisions and their vow because they had acted on Azariah’s prophecy: they had promised to look for Him and only Him earnestly and entirely, and they knew He would let them find Him. In response to the promises, the Eternal gave peace in their lives and with their neighbors.

¹⁶ Asa continued his reforms even after this. He also removed his own mother, Maacah, from her position as queen mother because she had continued in her idol worship, making a carved image of Asherah. Asa cut down the cultic statue, crushed it, and burned it beside the brook Kidron. ¹⁷ In spite of his work against idol worship, he did not remove the high places in the Northern Kingdom. Asa followed His ways throughout his reign, ¹⁸ and he returned the silver, gold, and utensils which he and his father had dedicated to the house of the True God. ¹⁹ Until the 35th year of his reign, the Southern Kingdom did not fight any wars.

16 But in the 36th year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah, conquered Ramah, and fortified it as his outpost in the Southern Kingdom. By controlling Ramah, Baasha controlled access to Jerusalem and to Asa king of Judah.

² Asa took silver and gold from the treasuries of the Eternal’s temple and his own palace, and he sent them to Ben-hadad, king of Aram, who lived in Damascus.

⁴ Ben-hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and sent the commanders of his armies to conquer cities in Israel and to add them to the nation of Aram: Ijon (a fortified city in Naphtali), Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities in the region of Naphtali. ⁵ When Baasha heard that Aram was attacking him, he stopped his work of strengthening Ramah and returned to the Northern Kingdom to fight. ⁶ Then King Asa and his people in Judah pillaged Ramah, removing Baasha’s stones and wood and using them to fortify Geba and Mizpah.

⁷ At that time, Hanani the seer shared his vision with Asa, king of Judah, interpreting the king’s mistakes and predicting Israel’s future.

¹⁰ Asa was enraged by the seer’s vision. He imprisoned Hanani and cruelly oppressed some of his people.

¹¹ The actions of Asa, from his birth to his death, are recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² In the 39th year of his reign, Asa contracted a severe foot disease. Once again, he had the opportunity to look to the Eternal, but instead he relied on physicians.

¹³ So Asa joined his ancestors in death three years later, in the 41st year of his reign. ¹⁴ The people buried him in his own tomb, which he had cut out for himself in the city of David, Jerusalem, and filled with spices prepared by a perfumer. Then the people built a large fire honoring him.

17 Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became king and demonstrated his authority over the Southern Kingdom of Israel by strengthening Judah’s defenses. ² He stationed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah and built barracks throughout the territory of Judah and the cities of Ephraim, which his father Asa had conquered. ³ The Eternal was with Jehoshaphat because he ruled as David had throughout his reign and as his father Asa had at the beginning of his reign. Jehoshaphat did not seek the lords of foreign religions; ⁴ instead, he looked for the True God of his father as Azariah told Asa to do, followed His commands, and was faithful to God, unlike the Northern Kingdom of Israel. ⁵ Because of his virtues, the Eternal gave control of the kingdom to Jehoshaphat. The people living throughout Judah brought gifts to their new king, Jehoshaphat, and he had abundant riches and honor. ⁶ Jehoshaphat prided himself on supporting the ways of the Eternal by cleansing Judah of foreign cultic symbols: high places and Asherah figures.

^7-9 In his third year, Jehoshaphat sent his most worthy officials (Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah), some of the Levites (Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah), and some of the priests (Elishama and Jehoram) to all the people in Judah to teach them from the Eternal’s laws.

¹⁰ All the kingdoms and lands surrounding Judah feared the Eternal, so they would not attack Jehoshaphat. ¹¹ Some of the Philistines even brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat, and Arabians brought him flocks: 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats.

^12-13 Jehoshaphat grew stronger at home and abroad, he built fortresses and store cities with great supplies in Judah, and he stationed his heroic men in Jerusalem ¹⁴ according to their families: From Judah, the commanders of their divisions were Adnah, the commander of 300,000 heroic men; ¹⁵ then Johanan, the commander of 280,000; ¹⁶ then Amasiah (son of Zichri who volunteered to serve the Eternal), and with him 200,000 heroic men. ¹⁷ From Benjamin, Eliada, a valiant warrior, and with him 200,000 archers and those carrying shields; ¹⁸ then Jehozabad, and with him 180,000 equipped for war. ¹⁹ These men served the king in Jerusalem, and others served him in other fortified cities throughout Judah.

18 In spite of his great wealth and honor, Jehoshaphat still wanted an alliance with the Northern Kingdom. So he arranged for his son, Jehoram, to marry Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, the king of Israel. ² Several years later, Jehoshaphat traveled north to Samaria (Israel’s capital city) to visit Ahab, and Ahab prepared a feast. He used this feast of sheep and goats to entice Jehoshaphat and his entourage into attacking Ramoth-gilead.

⁵ Then Ahab assembled 400 court prophets, who wanted to appease their king.

⁹ While they waited for Micaiah to arrive, Ahab and Jehoshaphat each sat on his own throne in his unique robes on the threshing floor inside Samaria’s gate. All the prophets were revealing their divine insights to the kings, ¹⁰ and Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, cast iron horns to illustrate his prophecy.

¹² When the messenger who went to summon Micaiah found him, he told Micaiah of the other prophets’ unanimous blessing for the battle. The messenger asked that Micaiah agree with the other prophets and support the battle. ¹³ Micaiah swore by the Eternal that he would only speak what the True God told him. He would not go along with the crowd just to please Ahab.

²³ Then Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, slapped Micaiah.

²⁸ So Ahab, king of the Northern Kingdom, and Jehoshaphat, king of the Southern Kingdom, attacked Ramoth-gilead together.

Both men did as Ahab suggested, Jehoshaphat in his robes and Ahab in his disguise, and they attacked Ramoth-gilead.

³⁰ Meanwhile, the Aramean king (who occupied Ramoth-gilead) had commanded the captains of his chariots to target only Ahab. ³¹ When they saw Jehoshaphat in the royal robes, they assumed that he was the king of Israel, not knowing that Judah had joined Ahab in the battle. The Aramean chariots pursued Jehoshaphat, but he called out to the Eternal for help. The True God diverted them. ³² When the captains of the chariots realized he was not Ahab, they retreated.

³³ Meanwhile, an archer randomly shot an arrow that landed in a joint of Ahab’s armor.

³⁴ The battle continued all day, but Ahab could only prop himself up in his chariot. So he watched from his chariot in front of the Arameans. At sunset, he died.

19 Then Jehoshaphat returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. ² When he arrived, Jehu (the son of Hanani the seer whom Asa imprisoned for predicting wars against Judah) greeted the king.

⁴ Unlike his father Asa, Jehoshaphat did not punish the seer for his message. Instead, the king dedicated himself to drawing his nation closer to the Eternal One, the True God of their ancestors. He lived in Jerusalem, but he traveled among his people from Beersheba in the South to the hill country of Ephraim in the North. ⁵ Jehoshaphat, whose name means “the Lord judges,” appointed judges throughout the land—in the fortified cities of Judah, one at a time.

⁸ In Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat appointed judges from three specific groups: the Levites, the priests, and the tribal leaders of Israel. They enacted the Eternal’s judgments and presided over the daily disputes among the citizens of Jerusalem.

20 After Jehoshaphat had solidified his throne by fortifying the nation and appointing regional judges, the Moabites, Ammonites, and some Meunites^[k] decided to attack him. ² Jehoshaphat heard about their plans.

³ Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he sought the Eternal and required all Judah’s citizens to fast. ^4-5 Everyone gathered together in Jerusalem from cities all over Judah to seek help from the Eternal. Jehoshaphat joined the assembly in the newly restored court at the Eternal’s house and ⁶ prayed before the people.

¹³ All Judah (men and women, children, and infants) were waiting in front of the Eternal’s temple when Jehoshaphat asked this. ¹⁴ There, the Spirit of the Eternal descended on a Levitical singer, Jahaziel (son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite son of Asaph).

¹⁸ Jehoshaphat bowed his head low, and all the assembly fell prostrate before the Eternal and worshiped Him with reverence. They trusted the Lord completely. ¹⁹ Meanwhile, the Levite families of the Kohathites and Korahites stood up to praise the Eternal One, True God of Israel, with very loud voices.

²⁰ Early the next morning they went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. There Jehoshaphat’s message to Judah was not about courage in battle.

²¹ Having addressed his people, Jehoshaphat asked those who sang to the Eternal to lead the army and praise His magnificence and holiness.

²² As they sang and praised, the Eternal was ready to cause great confusion in battle for the men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir (in Edom) who had come to attack Judah. They were utterly defeated, turning on one another. ²³ The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the men from Mount Seir, destroying them completely. Then, the Ammonites and Moabites turned on each other. ²⁴ When all was quiet, Judah looked out of the watchtower in the wilderness and saw a great army of corpses fallen on the battlefield. No one had escaped. ²⁵ Then Jehoshaphat and his people took various goods, clothing, and valuables off the dead bodies and seized the abundant livestock. There was so much that it took three days to recover it all. ²⁶ On the fourth day, they assembled in the valley of Beracah, where they had blessed the Eternal and where He had blessed them with a victory, and named the place, “The Valley of Beracah,” as it is still known today.

²⁷ Every man of Judah and citizen of Jerusalem followed Jehoshaphat back to Jerusalem, joyous because the Eternal defeated their enemies. ²⁸ They paraded into Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets and up to the Eternal’s house.

^29-30 For the rest of his reign, Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was peaceful because the Eternal had fought the Southern Kingdom’s enemies, making all the surrounding kingdoms fear the True God.

³⁵ But Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, acted wickedly, making a trade alliance with Ahaziah, king of Israel. ³⁶ They decided to build ships to go to Tarshish, constructing them in Ezion-geber. ³⁷ Eliezer (son of Dodavahu of Mareshah) interpreted Jehoshaphat’s actions and predicted the future.

Jehoshaphat found that the ships were broken and could not go to Tarshish as they had intended.^[m]

³¹ This is an account of Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah. He was 35 years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem 25 years. His mother was Azubah (daughter of Shilhi). ³² Jehoshaphat did as his father Asa had done, obeying the Eternal. ³³ In spite of his intentions, the high places remained and the people had not yet looked to the True God of their ancestors. ³⁴ The other actions of Jehoshaphat, from his birth to his death, are recorded in the annals of Jehu (son of Hanani) in the book of the kings of Israel.

21 When Jehoshaphat joined his ancestors in death and was laid to rest with his fathers in the city of David, Jerusalem, his son Jehoram succeeded him to the throne. ² Jehoshaphat, king of the true Israel,^[n] had a number of sons in addition to Jehoram: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. ³ Jehoshaphat made each one a wealthy governor with silver, gold, and costly gifts over his own fortified cities in Judah and appointed Jehoram as the future king since he was the firstborn. ⁴ Once Jehoram had taken over his father’s kingdom and had established himself, he killed all his brothers and some rulers of Israel so they could not challenge his right to rule.

⁵ Jehoram was 32 years old when he ascended to the throne, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶ But he was not a righteous king as his father was before him. He married Ahab’s daughter and was tempted to worship her pagan gods as the kings of the Northern Kingdom did. He did evil instead of following the Eternal; ⁷ now despite this the Eternal upheld His promise to David. In His covenant with David, He promised David’s family would guide Israel forever, so He would not destroy Jehoram or his government. But God punished him with revolts by Edom and Libnah.

⁸ Instead of following Jehoram’s rule, the people of Edom revolted and elected their own king. ⁹ Jehoram responded to their disobedience by attacking the Edomites with all of his officers and chariots. But the Edomites surrounded Jehoram with his army of commanders and chariots. Then Jehoram went out in the dark of night and struck down the Edomite rebellion. ¹⁰ Edom has continually rebelled against the rule of Judah until this day. Likewise, Libnah (a Levitical city in southwestern Judah) revolted against Jehoram’s rule at the same time because Jehoram had abandoned the Eternal One, the True God of his ancestors, in favor of worshiping foreign gods. ¹¹ He even built high places in the mountains of Judah to honor those gods, leading the citizens of Jerusalem and Judah to prostitute themselves spiritually to other gods.

¹² Having heard about Jehoram’s actions, Elijah the prophet sent a letter to the king.

¹⁶ Fulfilling His promise, the Eternal incited the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Cushites to attack Jehoram ¹⁷ and Judah. They invaded the nation and plundered the palace, taking all the possessions including the king’s children and wives. When they had finished, all that remained was Jehoahaz,^[o] Jehoram’s youngest son. ¹⁸ Then the Eternal infected the king with a terminal intestinal illness. ¹⁹ He died painfully two years later with the prolapse of his intestines. After he died, the people did not honor his memory by lighting a fire for him as they had done for his ancestors. ²⁰ He was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. No one was sorry when he died. They buried him in the city of David, Jerusalem, but not in the tombs with the other kings and his ancestors.

22 Since the Philistines and Arabs had killed all of Jehoram’s older sons when they plundered the palace, the citizens of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king. ² Ahaziah was 22 years old^[p] when he became king, and he ruled for only one year in Jerusalem.

Ahaziah was the son of Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri and daughter of Ahab. ^3-4 Since his mother and her relatives were his counselors during his reign, Ahaziah followed the gods worshiped by the Northern Kingdom, and performed evil deeds before the Eternal as the house of Ahab did. By following this bad advice, Ahaziah ensured his destruction. ^5-6 He repeated the mistake of Jehoshaphat and followed Jehoram, the son of Ahab king of the Northern Kingdom, to fight Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead. When the Arameans wounded Joram, he returned to Jezreel to heal his wounds and Ahaziah went to visit him there.

⁷ Ahaziah’s destruction by the True God was decided when he visited Joram because his visit coincided with the attack Jehu, the son of Nimshi, executed on Jezreel. (The Eternal had incited Jehu to destroy the house of Ahab.) ⁸ During his assault, Jehu found Ahaziah’s sons and nephews who served him and killed them. ⁹ Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah and found him cowering in Samaria. Jehu’s forces brought Ahaziah to Jehu, killed him, and buried him.^[q] He was given a burial only because of his descent from Jehoshaphat, who looked for the Eternal and followed His commands. Because of Jehu’s slaughter, no one from Ahaziah’s immediate family lived to inherit the kingdom.

¹⁰ When Athaliah realized that her son Ahaziah had died along with all of the royal line, she decided to kill her opponents—the remaining royal offspring of the Southern Kingdom.

¹¹ But little did she know that Jehoshabeath, King Jehoram’s daughter, had stolen Ahaziah’s son Joash from among the king’s sons when Jehu’s soldiers were killing them. She hid Joash and his nurse in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and the sister of King Ahaziah, saved the Davidic line by protecting him from Athaliah’s murderous rage. Since she was the wife of Jehoiada the priest, Jehoshabeath ¹² was able to hide Joash and his nurse in the temple of the True God during the six years of Athaliah’s reign.

23 During the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoiada the priest prepared to revolt and conferred with the commanders over divisions of warriors: Azariah (son of Jeroham), Ishmael (son of Johanan), Azariah (son of Obed), Maaseiah (son of Adaiah), and Elishaphat (son of Zichri). These men made an agreement with Jehoiada, promising to fight against Athaliah’s illegitimate government. ² They traveled through Judah telling the people about the coming revolt. Then all the Levites and all the Israelite tribal leaders came to Jerusalem ³ to make another contract with the rightful king, Joash, in the house of God.

⁸ The Levites and the people did as they were told by Jehoiada the priest. Everyone worked that day, even those who were typically off duty on Sabbath, because Jehoiada reenlisted them all in the rebellion. ⁹ He armed the divisions under the commanders of hundreds with King David’s spears and large and small shields which were offerings to the house of the True God, ¹⁰ and he stationed all the people, who were armed with their own weapons, to surround both the temple and Joash. ¹¹ Once everyone was in place, they publicly made Joash king: the people crowned him and gave him a copy of the covenant laws; Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and said, “Long live the king!”

¹² Hearing the commotion of her people running and praising a different monarch, Athaliah entered the Eternal’s house where all the people were stationed. ¹³ There she saw King Joash standing by his pillar at the entrance, flanked by the commanders and the trumpeters. All the people of the land rejoiced and blew trumpets as the singers led the people in songs of praise with their musical instruments.

¹⁵ So they took her to the entrance of the Horse Gate at the palace and executed her.